1942: Strikes

As the first full year of this country's participation in the war as a belligerent, 1942 was relatively free of long and serious labor disputes. Though there were many strikes, they were of brief duration and the time lost through strikes was the smallest in recent years.

In industries engaged in war production, strikes and time lost were even less. During the first 10 months of the year the number of strikes in war industries was 1,179 and man days lost were 1,942,932.

Unlike the experience of 1941 there were no prolonged stoppages which crippled the production of war materials for long stretches of time. Strikes, though serious, were brief, the majority of them lasting only a few days. Many of them took the form of local protests against union leaders or against what the members deemed excessive delay by the authorities in passing upon their demands.

The source of this spell of labor quiet was the no-strike pledge made by the unions of the country shortly after the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor. On Jan. 12, 1942, the President created the National War Labor Board. To this agency both employers and employees agreed to submit all disputes and to abide by its decisions. Since the unions received considerable concessions in these decisions, they displayed little disposition to challenge the board's findings. The employers, likewise, in the interest of continuous war production contented themselves with protesting decisions they did not like and refrained from direct action. In a handful of cases, in which men struck in violation of their pledge or employers refused to accept decisions of the board, the Government intervened and took over plants. When peace was restored, they were returned to their owners.